Cryptocurrencies and the Blockchain: the potential to rule the world?

On the 8th of March Room for Discussion will host a session on cryptocurrencies and the world that blockchain technology promises to bring.

Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that launched just a few weeks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, is currently worth an estimated $41 billion. Digital coins like Bitcoin have become a global phenomenon. There are currently just under 1400 different coins in circulation, trading on 190 digital exchanges. How do these coins differentiate themselves, what aspects give them a viable future and do they have the potential to replace currency as we know it?

This ‘monetary revolution’ has put regulators on edge. China and South Korea have banned initial coin offerings (ICO’s), and most countries force users to identify themselves when trading crypto-coins. It is imperative that regulators find a perfect balance in the trade-off between protecting consumers and encouraging innovation.

Cryptocurrencies carry a very ideological philosophy with them. Blockchain, the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies, could facilitate a world that enables us to trust strangers without a third party necessary to verify transactions. This has the potential to change our lives and threaten the position of established ‘trust-based’ institutions. How would this blockchain ruled world, without intermediaries, look?

We hope to see you on the 8th of March, from 13.00 to 14.00 in the E-hall of Roeterseilandcampus.

Our guests for this session are Masahiro Yasu (Founder and CEO of Alis—the first Japanese social media platform using blockchain) and Alfred Prevoo (financial economist and former supervisor at the European Central Bank. Currently managing an investment institution focused on cryptocurrencies)

What: Cryptocurrencies and the Blockchain
Who: : Alfred Prevoo and Masahiro Yasu
When: Thursday, March 8, 13.00 to 14.00
Where: E-Hal, Roeterseiland
Interviewers: Olaf Vrijmoet and Joshua Nooij